UFC to make China debut in Macau in November

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has fficially announced its first-ever event in the People’s Republic of China, and its second event in Asia this year. Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China located off the mainland’s southern coast, will host a UFC event Nov. 10, 2012.

The event will be held at The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel’s CotaiArena, a 15,000-seat venue known as the premiere live entertainment location in southern China. FUEL TV will broadcast the fight card in the U.S.

UFC Chairman & CEO Lorenzo Fertitta commented:

“Breaking into a market with a population of over 1.3 billion is both a testament to the growth of our sport and a long-term challenge we are excited to undertake. This is just the first of many world-class fights we plan to hold over the coming years in China, one of the birthplaces of martial arts. The world-class CotaiArena in Macau is an ideal place to start this journey.”

The UFC has been building its broadcast viewership in China over the last several years and currently reaches more than 450 million people through a dozen provincial broadcasters, and more than 500 million unique viewers online in China.